BEHAVIORAL PHENOTYPES AND FAMILY STRESS IN 3 MENTAL-RETARDATION SYNDROMES

The behavioural phenotype of 30 fragile-X, 35 Prader-Willi and 35 Will iams-Beuren syndrome children was explored using a psychometric approa ch. Results confirmed some distinct behaviours as syndrome-specific, b ut revealed a high degree of within-syndrome variability and overlap b etween syndromes as well. Parental stress was high in each of the grou ps, but was mediated by maternal dissatisfaction with family relations hips. A multimethod approach with detailed syndrome-specific observati ons is recommended for further research.